Homeless
by TenzouGirl
Summary: Sakura lives on the streets of Konoha, but what happens when a stranger makes her an offer she can't refuse? Kakuzu X Sakura
1. The Offer

Homeless

She shivered silently as the cold wind blew harder, chilling her further. Her name was Sakura, and she was alone. All alone. Her parents were dead, she had no siblings. A year earlier, Naruto had become Hokage, and was too busy to pay attention to her anymore. Sakura didn't blame him though, the responsibility of the Leaf Village came first. Sasuke had taken his own life when his life became too great to bear, and a while back Kakashi had died while protecting her from the Akatsuki. He had promised to always be there... it was _all lies._ She told herself she hated him for dying on her, but she just couldn't be convinced; Kakashi had given her too much.

No one cared about her anymore. Kakashi, the one man she thought would always be there for her was gone, and that was the most painful blow. Sakura admits that the year before he died, she had begun to fall for him, but that's over now. There was no warm home to welcome her, no happy family to cheer her up when she's upset. There was no one.

To be frank, Konoha wasn't exactly the place to be in the winter. It was FREAKING COLD. No one really went outside unless they _had to._ However, the beautiful pink haired woman was stuck outside on the streets all the time, all her life. The occasional passer-by would give her a sympathetic look, but no one really did anything to help her. The world was full of bystanders when she desperately needed someone to help her. No one cared.

Today was especially cold. Sakura was garbed in a ratty t-shirt and shorts that barely came down to her knees. They were hardly winter wear. At times like these, she would usually curl into a ball or find some box to lie in. But today, she didn't mind.

_It's not worth it…No one cares if I die…No one would grieve my death…They would say good riddance and get on with their lives..It's not worth it._ She told herself this constantly, but today it really hit home. If Sakrua was meant to die today, she would die. It was destiny.

A pair of quiet footsteps signaled the approach of a stranger. Normal people wouldn't have heard them, but she had been a _shinobi _after all. The young Chuunin glaced up to meet the face of the person. He was tall, _freakishly tall_ to be exact. He wore a black cloak with a red cloud print on it, a hood and a mask that hid his lower face. The only pieces of him that were exposed to her were his vivid green eyes. They were beautiful, and She couldn't help but stare.

He turned away from her. "Don't." He growled quietly, turning his face slightly so that the shadows gave them an eerie shine.

Sakura nodded, curled back into a ball and closed her own eyes, waiting for him to leave her alone once more. However, he just stood in front of her, staring at the wall. "Don't you have anywhere to be, _little girl_? It's too cold for you to be hanging out here. Go home." He said.

The 18 year old laughed coldly. "I don't have a home, family, or anyone even remotely close to me, so please, just leave me _alone._ I don't feel like talking right now, just go away."

The strange man walked over, sat next to her, and leaned against the wall. "Home isn't always being with someone close to you, but being with some one who respects you or someone who can take care of you. I can understand your hostility. I never had a home when I was your age. But now, I have comrades that I live with. They are excruciatingly annoying, but comrades none the less. I approached you to make an offer." The stranger was sure not to look at her at all, making Sakura shiver slightly.

"I have nothing to give in exchange. An offer is pointless." Sakura's words burned hot fire in the icy air. _Nothing at all._

"I would have you work for me as a maid. The payment would be food and housing." the stranger continued.

The offer sounded too good to be true, so Sakura waited silently for him to call back his cruel joke and laugh in her face. But he didn't. He waited quietly and stared at her with his tantalizing orbs.

He waited for her decision. _What made me want to help her? Why am I suddenly being so kind? I have __never__ been generous, but here I have just offered some homeless girl a home. What was so special about her?_

When she finally spoke, it woke him from his inner conversation. "Do you really mean it?" she asked in a detached tone. She was being careful to hide her emotions.

"Yes." he answer quickly. _Why am I so eager? _

"Ok. I'll go with you." She said, but it was so quiet that he almost didn't catch it.

"Good. What is your name?" the stranger asked.

"Sakura. What's yours?"

He smirked, the action hidden by cloth. "Kakuzu."


	2. Meeting The Partner

Homeless Chapter 2

An annoyed voice pierced their quiet moment.

"Jashin dammit Kakuzu, hurry up and grab her! Pein is calling us and if we don't fucking hurry he's gonna get pissed!"

Sakura looked Kakuzu with a panicked look on her face; She hadn't heard the other man's approach. The pink haired girl whipped around quickly and held out the kunai that had been concealed inside her shirt to the assailant's neck. The 'attacker' let out a startled gasp before he snatched Sakura's wrist and twisted it painfully. Sakura let out an agonized breath and he twisted it further. Behind her, she heard a rustling and prepared to feel the blow of Kakuzu's fist. She was surprised when his punch missed her purposefully and nailed the man constricting her arm, and even more surprised when said man was slammed into the wall behind her.

"Keep your hands to yourself, Hidan." Kakuzu growled before slashing his neck to the point where his head had fallen off. Sakura screamed, and Kakuzu covered her mouth with a bloody hand. "Relax. He's immortal, he'll be fine."

Said immortal's head twitched before screaming: "KAKUZU stitch my head back on, you bastard! That fucking hurt you asshole!"

"Good, now maybe you will learn your lesson for once. Don't be so prepared to kill someone when they are alarmed or in Sakura's case, frightened. If you hadn't have been so rash, this would have been over and done with, and we'd all be on our way back to base by now. Do I need to spell it out? Think before you act, dumbass." Kakuzu turned to Sakura. "Now, with that out of the way, Sakura this is my partner Hidan. Hidan, this is my new maid, Sakura."

Hidan looked severely confused. "Maid? What the fuck do you need a maid for? I thought you were just gonna sell her for money, you old miser."

Kakuzu shot a mind-shattering glare at Hidan. "For that avoidable comment, I'm going to hold off on stitching you back together."

"WHAT? JASHIN DAMMIT KAKUZU, YOU BASTARD!" Hidan screamed. Despite his angry-looking persona, Sakura knew what he was hiding. She knew how it felt to feel that no one would ever help or care about you, so she tugged on Kakuzu's sleeve gently; she felt her face flush slightly when his piercing eyes met hers.

"E-er Kakuzu-sama,"she felt herself stutter," I know it's not my place, but do you think you could stitch Hidan-san up?" She averted her eyes to the pool of blood that had splattered on the wall. She heard Hidan let out a "eh?"He wasn't exactly used to someone paying attention to him other than it being violent or when Kakuzu stitched him up after said violence. Kakuzu looked at her with a raised eye brow, but said nothing and began to fix Hidan. Hidan let out a chuckle and winked at Sakura, mouthing a 'thanks'. Sakura grinned and returned his wink with her own.

After he was done Kakuzu stood up, stretched, and began walking in the general direction of town. "Hey Kakuzu, are you stupid or something?" The silver haired man interrupted, "That path leads into the main part of town, and if we get caught there we're screwed. Aren't we going back to base?" his face turned into a soft pout, probably pondering whatever punishment the leaf would dish out on them.

He shook his head. "No. I figured our new member was hungry, so I decided we should probably get something to eat before we go." Kakuzu said simply, not even turning around or stopping for that matter. The man shot a look over his shoulder, "Nothing pricey." Sakura quirked a brow before tugging on the back of his jacket.

"U-um… Kakuzu-sama, I'm fine..I'm not hungry at the moment, we can just go back to... base?" Sakura stuttered. In all truthfulness, she was famished, but she didn't really want to be a bother; she could deal with it.

"Sakura, don't argue with me. I don't do this often, and I _know_ you're hungry so just drop it and follow me." Kakuzu spoke in a tone that said _that's the end of that._

"H-hai…" she answered unsurely. Sakura poked at Hidan, who was walking beside her. "Hey Hidan-san, is Kakuzu really that much of a miser?" she asked.

He chuckled quietly. "You wouldn't believe the stories I could tell you."

Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Tell me, tell me." She pestered.

"Okay." Hidan began."This one time, we were returning from mission when we passed this nice looking inn. Kakuzu and I were both exhausted, so we both entered and asked for 2 rooms, and the woman, damn her, said: "Okay, that will be pretty expensive. Let's see...for 2 rooms its-"but I never heard her finish because Kakuzu had already left at the word _expensive_. So, basically, we got to sleep outside for the umpteenth time. Man, I was pissed." He finished.

Sakura was giggling loudly, so loudly that Kakuzu whipped around to figure out why. She quickly stifled herself and continued to walk past both of them. Kakuzu glared at Hidan. "What did you say?" he demanded.

"Nothing." Hidan smirked.

"Aww- not the inn story! Dammit, Hidan you're making me look bad."

"In case you haven't noticed Kakuzu, you _are_ bad. I was just lightening the fucking mood, Jashin, chill out."

Kakuzu just grunted. "Hey Sakura." She stopped and turned to face him, reddened face slightly suprised. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Oh. Heh, nope." She let him pass before following close behind.

"Hidan, don't forget your transformation jutsu."

Hidan snorted and transformed into a blond haired teenager with his own pink eye color. Kakuzu simply took off his cloak.

"Mask off, baka. People will still recognize you with it." Hidan said rather rudely. "I still don't understand why you never bothered to learn this stupid jutsu."

Kakuzu, begrudged, took off his black mask and let his medium length brown hair drape to his shoulders. "There is no value in a jutsu like _that _when you look like _me."_ Sakura took a quick peek at his face; it was very interesting. There was stitching from his neck to the corners of his mouth, and multiple stitches on his broad shoulders and around the length of his arms. He was very handsome considering, and she wondered why he would hide himself so fully.

"_Look. I know I'm ugly, but just PLEASE stop staring at me_." He said finally.

Sakura looked surprised. "_Ugly_?" was all she said before turning her head to look at the ground.

Hidan simply grunted before he began to walk towards the nearest restaurant, or in this case, the Ramen Stand.


	3. Ramen Stand

**Homeless Chapter 3**

_The Ichiraku ramen stand brought back a lot of unwanted memories. Team 7. Sasuke. Naruto...Kakashi. They had all left her. She wished she could have saved Sasuke, and a part of her wished Naruto could have fufilled his promise to her of bringing Sasuke back to her safely. She couldn't blame him; he not only had the nine-tails demon, but he had lost his best friend. Sakura should have tried more to help him with his heavy burdens, but back then she was weak and needed someone to rely on. That was probably why she had fallen for Kakashi. He, like Naruto, would do anything to make sure the people he cared about were happy. The kinoichi hated herself for not being able to save the ones she loved, the ones who did everything to protect her. To her, life never seemed fair._

Sakura's stomach growled loudly, ruining her moment of depressed remembrance. She smiled a little ruefully. _Ramen sounds good, s_he thought to herself.

Hidan chuckled and nudged her along. "Quick Sakura! We can't have you wasting away here! C'mon, is ramen okay?" he asked.

"Of course Hidan-san, ramen sounds excellent." Sakura said and Hidan smiled brilliantly as he held out the flap of the ramen stand to let her enter. Sakura giggled at his manners and entered quickly, eager to eat some decent food for once in her miserable life. _Ahhh it smells so good!_ She inhaled the sweet scent and slowly opened them to Kakuzu staring at her with an eyebrow arched and a slight smirk on his face. It was odd to see everything about him; Sakura felt slightly touched, for some unknown reason.

"Don't you think we should order?" he asked and sat down a seat away from Hidan, forcing her to sit between them. She sunk down on the soft red stool picked up her menu. _Gah! I don't know what half this stuff is! Crap! I'm screwed!_ Sensing her distress, Hidan tapped on her shoulder lightly.

"Do you want me to order for you?" he asked.

"Yes please Hidan-san." She said quietly, trying no to draw unnecessary attention to herself.

Kakuzu nudged her arm and she jumped. She felt his eyes on her when she peeked at him in question.

"Want some help?"

"No I'm okay, Hidan is helping me. Thanks Kakuzu-sama." Sakura smiled shyly.

"Nonsense, I'll help you." He gestured to the menu."You'd probably like the special." He said with a slight smirk. Even he was not so sure why he was smiling.

"Thanks Kakuzu-sama." Sakura have him a sweet smile, and he turned away with slightly tinted cheeks.

After watching the two for a few brief seconds, Hidan's jaw dropped. _Kakuzu blushed?_ The waitress came and they all ordered.

"3 specials, coming up!" the waitress said cheerfully as she ducked behind the counter to retrieve their drinks. Sakura and Hidan had gotten water, while Kakuzu had gotten Sake. The 18 year old girl eyed the alcohol curiously.

"Hey Kakuzu-sama, can I try a bit of your Sake? Please?" she pleaded with him.

"No, you're too young Sakura. You'll have to wait a few years just like Hidan, I, and everyone else did." He said firmly.

"Please? C'mon Kuzu-sama, just a sip!" She begged.

"_Kuzu?_" was all he said.

"Ah- oh, I'm sorry, it just slipped out!" Sakura apologized desperately.

"No, it's fine, I've just never quite been called _that _before." he said and pushed his drink towards Sakura. He saw Hidan's angry pout and added "Just a sip." Before he could freak out at the _humanity of it all; after all, Kakuzu was being nicer to her than he had ever been to his Akatsuki partner of 6 years. That was a fact Kakuzu himself could not explain._

As Sakura took a drink, Kakuzu's mind wandered back to when he had removed his mask and said he was ugly. _The way she had said 'Ugly?' confuses me so much! Does she not think I'm repulsive?_ He fought with himself until he heard Sakura sputtering.

"Yuck!" was all she said.

Kakuzu nodded slightly."Remember that." He said and reclaimed his drink, taking a huge swig. Sakura now eyed the warm drink with distaste. In her opinion, it was too sweet.


	4. Stupid Joke

Homeless Chapter 4

To say that the ramen was good was an _enormous _understatement to Sakura. She had never really eaten anything _good _or _decent_ lately, but the ramen was _out-of-this-world-delicious_. Sakura slurped up her noodles so fast she was on her 2nd bowl before Kakuzu had finished his Sake. A small flashback of her noodle-loving friend Naruto slowed her pace.

After the meal, Sakura and Hidan patted their stomachs simultaneously. They both grinned widely and Hidan motioned for them to leave quietly, trying to sneak away from Kakuzu. Sakura nodded and slid out of her seat as Kakuzu finished his bowl of ramen. They both snuck outside the stand and crept quietly into the forest. When Kakuzu finished and paid, begrudingly I might add, he left the stand and looked around in confusion. Where were Hidan and Sakura?

He closed his eyes and focused, and sensed their chakra a few meters away in a tall tree. A spruce, actually. What the hell are they doing? Kakuzu furrowed his brows before creating a shadow clone, and sent it walking in the general direction of the base before he walked to the back of the tree the two were in. He climbed using his chakra silently and stood behind them. They were both giggling at the shadow clone, who was pretending to look confused and search for them. Kakuzu cleared his throat loudly. Hidan stiffed visibly, and Sakura yelped, losing her footing on the branch.

She felt the wind scream past her in agony, as if it wept for her. _Maybe I was meant to die after all._ Her hair flew about her face, and her arms reached out to nuzzle with the emptiness around her. _Kakashi, Sasuke, I'm coming, you guys. Wait up._

_The sound of the tear hitting the water was serene. It was as if someone was playing bells, letting the sound wrap around her in an embrace. The silence after was nearly deafening. She stood above the clear water effortlessly, finding it impossible to just drown herself in it. A hand sat on her shoulder, warm and comforting. Not to mention, familiar. His scent was everywhere, as soothing and pristine as the water she stood above._

_"S-Sensei?" her voice cracked and she found herself unable to say his name._

_His chuckle rang through the silence, enveloping her in security. "My name is not 'Sensei.'" his tone was playful and sweet._

_"I-" she started, turning to hug him. "I'm so sorry, Kakashi."_

_His arms wrapped around her. "I died for you, and that is something I'm happy with. You're worth it, Sakura. I had promised to protect you, and I did."_

_"B- but- you..." _

"_Shit_!" Kakuzu said and launched himself after the falling girl. He wrapped his arm around her waist to support her as they fell; Kakuzu pulled her to his chest and braced himself. He whirled in the air so that he was on the bottom as they impacted the earth. He grit his teeth and the pain shot through his entire body. _"Damn…"_ was all he could say before he passed out.

_Kakashi's smile resonated quietly in the darkness. "It's not your time, Sakura." And then he was gone._

Kakuzu awoke several hours later in a small hotel room, and when he opened his eyes Sakura was hovering close to his face; there were tears pouring down her face. She noticed he had woken up and wiped away the tears quickly, but a few stragglers remained. He wiped them away with his finger. "_Were you crying for me, Sakura?"_ he asked.

"Y-yes... I'm so sorry, it was a stupid joke… I'm sorry, you got hurt because of me… It's my fault you're hurt." She stuttered before bursting into tears once more. _Too many have died for me. _Unable to form any sort of words,Kakuzu pulled her to his chest again. It had become a familiar gesture by now, he figured, so he did it anyway.

Sakura blushed slightly before wrapping her slender arms around his waist and constricting him to her. Kakuzu wrapped his huge arms around her shoulders and pulled her head to his chest and set his chin on her head, inhaling her sweet scent.

They remained in the embrace until Hidan entered the room. Sakura wiped her eyes and turned to Hidan, who was standing at the door with a faint blush.

"Er…I'm sorry I wasn't disturbing anything, was I?" he asked.

"N-no… You didn't." Sakura said and grinned at him sweetly.

Hidan breathed out a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was to walk in on them making-out… He chuckled at the thought. It wasn't like Kakuzu couldn't use a woman, and Sakura _was_ just right for him. She is quiet, calm, and sweet, all to overcome Kakuzu's grumpiness, impatientness, and insecurity. After all, she didn't even flinch at the sight of his scars. She had even seemed _curious._ Even Hidan had reacted badly, and afterwards he felt terrible about it, but he couldn't take it back. Ever.

Kakuzu stood on his shaky legs, and before he could fall, Sakura slid her arms underneath his to support his weight. "Thanks." He mumbled, uncomfortable about needing help.

"No problem." She replied with a grin that eased his nerves slightly. _It's nice to be relied on for once, _she smiled slighlty to herself.


End file.
